


Rambling and Reading

by cottagecrowcore



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Autism Spectrum, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Neurodiversity, Self-Indulgent, gale just hyperfixates a lot, infodumping to your emotional support husband, yeah it is just pure shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cottagecrowcore/pseuds/cottagecrowcore
Summary: When Gale takes interest in something, it's never casual. He puts his whole heart, his whole soul into whatever his interest is, and then he lets it consume him.Gale likes to infodump, Julian likes to listen to him ramble. It all works out perfectly.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Julian Devorak/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 14





	Rambling and Reading

**Author's Note:**

> the book gale is hyperfixated on is not so subtly based off of the haunting of bly manor. so disclaimer, i did not come up with that story, and there might be bly manor spoilers ahead

It is another one of the little things that attracted him to Gale. When Gale takes interest in something, it is never casual. He puts his whole heart, his whole soul into whatever his interest is, and then he lets it consume him. Julian couldn’t help but feel his heart swell at his pure, unfiltered passion.

Gale has a nasty tendency to apologize and feel bad for rambling about his interests. It made Julian wonder who’d instilled the idea that the way he loves so fiercely is something to be embarrassed of. In time, though, he’d learned how to tell when Gale was itching to ramble about what he’d taken interest in-- Infodumping, that was what he’d called it. He wouldn’t infodump on his own, so that was always his cue to invite him to do so.

The desire to let a detailed explanation of his interest flow from his lips like a waterfall showed clearly on Gale’s face today. It was obvious, with the faraway look in his eyes and the way he kept tapping on the cover of one of his books. 

So, in the night, as Julian sat in bed with him, he wraps his arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer. “You’ve been itching to talk about something all day. What is it?”

A spark lit up in Gale’s eyes. It was a noticeable glow that came whenever someone gave him the opportunity to ramble like this. “Oh, it’s this book I’ve been reading-- It’s amazing, I’ve reread it a few times because it’s just that moving and good. It’s called _Oh Weeping Willow._ The main character is this woman, Ardella, who takes a job watching over some kids in a manor by the Sea of Persephia called Ivy Manor. Like a governess. She’s hired by the kids’ uncle, a guy named Lord Jennings Langston. The kids’ parents are dead, and their old governess also died on Ivy Manor, so there’s some stigma with the job. Anyways, Ardella gets the job, and the cook, Ernest, takes her down to Ivy Manor. It’s out in the countryside, a very nice place.” He shakes his hands out, a little habit that came out when he was excited. “She meets the kids, Audrey and Ralph, they give her a tour of the manor-- Wait, is this too much? I’m sorry.”

“No, go on, dear. I’d very much like to keep hearing the sound of your voice.”

His face flushes, a familiar sight. “O-okay. So, the manor, it all seems fine at first, but it feels like something’s off. And then Ralph gives Ardella this hairclip as a gift, and later when she’s giving Audrey a bath, she says that Ralph shouldn’t have done that. When Ardella asks why, she says it doesn’t belong to her. It belongs to Isabelle, the governess who, y’know, died. But then Audrey looks over Ardella’s shoulder for a minute and says that it’s actually fine for her to wear the hairclip. Weird, right? So there’s a bunch of flashbacks, stories, Ardella falling in love with this gardener named Ethel, you should really read the book to get it all-- And anyways, towards the end, the weird stuff that happens in Ivy Manor is explained. Ah, but then I’ll spoil the whole book… uh…”

Julian reaches over, plucking the book from where it was resting on a bedside table. “Why don’t we read it together, hm? If you wouldn’t mind, that is.”

The grin that spreads across Gale’s face is almost blindingly bright. “Only if we can take turns doing dramatic character voices!”

“Oh come now, did you really think I wouldn’t take the opportunity to do that?” He opens the book, and Gale takes the first turn reading. It begins at the preparation for an upcoming wedding, with an older guest who asks if she can tell a ghost story while they all take a moment to relax. From there, it flashes back many years ago, to Ardella being interviewed for the job.

They switch off on reading, giving silly voices here and there and peppering in random comments and jokes. Occasionally, Gale interrupts to go into an analysis of the writing, or gushes about the characters and plot. They lose track of time together, and soon they reach the part of the book where the strange happenings of Ivy Manor are explained.

“Here it is, this is where it’s all explained. It’s my favorite part, can I read it?”

“Of course. I can’t wait to hear it.”

“‘Long ago, hundreds of years ago, in fact, there was a Lord who lived in this manor. His name was unknown and unimportant. The important ones were his two daughters. Lilly, the elder sister, and Filomena, the younger sister. When the Lord of Ivy Manor died, it was important that one of the two sisters got married so they did not lose their grip on the manor. They decided to invite a distant family friend, Hector, to the manor. Hector arrived, and he found that only Filomena was there. She explained that Lilly is out handling finances, as people thought that now that their father was dead, they could skip out on paying taxes. The two of them talked, taking a liking to each other, but then Lilly arrived. Her hair was windswept, her clothes were fancy but fit for traveling. But everything about Lilly’s grand entrance, from her appearance to the massive portrait of her hanging near a staircase, was theatrics. It was all to convey a message: Hector can marry her or marry her sister, but the true power of Ivy Manor will stay with Lilly either way.’”

“Oho, a flair for the dramatic? I think I like this Lilly character.”

Gale smiles knowingly and continues his reading. “‘Hector married Lilly. It was a simple ceremony fitting the business relationship that it was. All in all, it was a good deal for Lilly, who was now the true Lady of Ivy Manor, and a good deal for Filomena, who’d always been content with her place as the younger sister. With the manor safe, Lilly should have been happy, but each night she found that a restlessness had taken up residence deep within her body. She would wake at odd hours of the night and walk the halls of Ivy Manor. There were many reasons for this restlessness, but one of them was the possibility that there was a little love in her marriage. Lilly soon bore a child, a lovely daughter, one that she saw herself in. She told the infant how others would seek to take the manor from her, but she would be strong like her mother. Because it was her, it was Lilly, it was them. You, me, us. And Lilly was happy.’”

“I’m assuming that happiness doesn’t last long.”

“You’re right about that. ‘Something began to grow in Lilly, something that started merely as a tickle in the back of her throat that grew into violent coughing fits. She was given only months to live despite the treatments she was getting. She couldn’t be with her daughter, and she couldn’t sleep in the same bed as her husband. Soon, a priest came to perform her last rites. But Lilly refused. She refused to repeat the words that the priest urged her to say. Filomena saw what she was doing. She encouraged her sister, telling her that she could go to Death himself and tell him no. Lilly heeded that advice. She did not die that night, nor the night after, nor the night after that. The people in town said that Death did indeed come for Lilly, and she turned him away at the doors of the manor so many times that he simply stopped coming. This stretched for months, for years. And all that time did not kill Lilly, but it took a toll on her. She became bitter and prone to snapping.’”

Julian listens intently. Gale was telling the story as if it was his own, each word containing a bit of the passion he’d fallen hopelessly in love with.

“‘One night, while Hector was out traveling, Filomena lied in bed with her sister, and a thought occurred to her. It was not a new thought. It was a thought that had been growing in her like the ivy that crept up the walls of the manor since Lilly’s bitter side had shown itself to the world. As she held her hand firmly over Lilly’s mouth and nose, she thought this was an act of mercy. But when Lilly’s body went limp and lifeless, she realized what her thought truly was. A single word. _Enough._ ’” Gale flaps his hands excitedly. “I love this part so much… the way it’s written, gah, it’s just got some power to it. I wish I could write something like that.”

Julian pulls Gale in closer, running a hand through his hair. “With your storytelling ability, I don’t doubt the fact that you can write something even more powerful.”

“Thank you.” His face flushes again, and an easy smile spreads across his face. “‘After all that was done, many suitors came forth to try to win Hector’s hand in marriage, but there was only one woman who caught his eye. Filomena. They married in a private ceremony, as if they didn’t want the late Lilly to see them. And so the years went on and on, and soon the manor began to fall on hard times financially. The couple had a solution to their problems: A locked chest of lavish silks and jewels that once belonged to Lilly, a collection she’d made Hector promise to pass on to their daughter someday. Filomena urged and urged her husband to sell it so they could keep the manor, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She decided to take matters into her own hands, and found the keys to the chest. To explain what happened when she opened the chest, though, we must catch up with what Lilly had been doing for the past few years.’”

Gale slumps down, leaning further onto Julian, though his tired eyes were still fixed on the book. “‘When Lilly died, she found herself in a room she could not leave. All it contained was a closet full of her old clothes and jewels, a bed, and a door that she could not open. But one day, she knew, her promise would be fulfilled. Her daughter would open the chest, and she would be freed. As she waited for that day, she fell into a simple routine. Sleeping, waking, walking. Then, the door opened, but it was not her daughter who stood outside. It was her sister, her sister who had murdered her, her sister who had broken a promise. Filled with rage, she held Filomena’s neck in an unnaturally tight grip, choking out her life. Then, she retreated back into her chest of silks and jewels, leaving the body for Hector to find. With his wife dead and his money running out, he had no choice but to leave the manor. He’d find a quiet, smaller life, just him and his daughter… and Lilly. Even if they could not see her or hear her, she’d be there with them, and maybe she could be happy. But Hector’s time in the countryside had made him superstitious, so rather than take the chest with him, he threw it into the lake. So many emotions flooded Lilly in that moment. Betrayal. Shock. Sadness. And strongest of all, anger. Lilly decided that no, she would not move on. Just like in her last rites, she decided that she would not be passing on to the next world. She would remain. And she fell into a familiar routine. Sleeping in her underwater home. Waking. Walking the halls of Ivy Manor. Years and years went by, and Lilly hardly noticed. Sometimes, people got in her way. She killed them just as she killed Filomena, but something strange happened when she did. They, too, did not move on. They were sucked in by Lilly’s gravity. More years went by. All who died on Ivy remained. And Lilly began to forget who she was, little by little. As she forgot, her facial features eroded away. She was no longer a person, just a hollow shell of anger who dragged others to her fate of facelessness, her fate of forgetfulness, her fate of being stuck and unable to move on--’”

Before he can go on, Gale is cut on by a rather loud yawn, followed by his eyes fluttering shut for a moment too long to call a blink. 

“We’ve been reading for quite some time. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“Aww, but Julian, we’re almost finished--”

“Which means we’ll be able to finish tomorrow night. I can’t count how many times you’ve told me how important it is that I sleep. Doesn’t the same apply to you?”

“Mm, fine,” he says, his voice tinged with tiredness. He lets himself fall back, relaxing his muscles. “Goodnight. I love you.”

“I love you too. Sweet dreams, my dear.”

Gale went limp against him, sleep overtaking him at last. In the silence of night, Julian thinks for a moment. For Gale, love is something he feels deeply and passionately. It is never a casual, small thing. No, it’s consuming, like a fire that overtakes his body. 

It makes Julian wonder what he did to have that deep sense of love be felt towards him.

Whatever the reason is, it is truly a blessing to be loved like that.


End file.
